Hand operated brake actuators of the type contemplated herein are described in co-pending application Ser. No. 07/071,490 filed on July 9, 1987, and entitled "Hand Operated Brake Actuator" and assigned to the same assignee. As described therein such actuators are operated by the driver by squeezing or pushing a lever arm toward the handle bar to apply tension to the brake cables. The tension on the cables is maintained by an equalizer which is mounted on the lever arm for pivotal movement in the plane of the cables. The brake cables are connected to the equalizer by means of a ball mounted on the end of the cable and positioned in slots on each end of the equalizer. When the lever arm is pivoted between the open and closed positions the cable is subjected to a bending action at the point of entrance of the cable into the equalizer. This bending action reduces the life of the cables due to the weakening of the cable causing it to break.